Nature and the Human Soul: Cultivating Wholeness and Community in a Fragmented World

Addressing the pervasive longing for meaning and fulfillment in this time of crisis, Nature and the Human Soul introduces a visionary ecopsychology of human development that reveals how fully and creatively we can mature when soul and wild nature guide us. Depth psychologist and wilderness guide Bill Plotkin presents a model for a human life span rooted in the cycles and qualities of the natural world, a blueprint for individual development that ultimately yields a strategy for cultural transformation.

With evocative language and personal stories, including those of elders Thomas Berry and Joanna Macy, this book defines eight stages of human life - Innocent, Explorer, Thespian, Wanderer, Soul Apprentice, Artisan, Master, and Sage - and describes the challenges and benefits of each. Plotkin offers a way of progressing from our current egocentric, aggressively competitive, consumer society to an ecocentric, soul-based one that is sustainable, cooperative, and compassionate. At once a primer on human development and a manifesto for change, Nature and the Human Soul fashions a template for a more mature, fulfilling, and purposeful life - and a better world.

• Wild Mind: A Field Guide to the Human Psyche
• Soulcraft: Crossing into the Mysteries of Nature and Psyche
• Spiritual Ecology: The Cry of the Earth
• Coming Back to Life: The Updated Guide to the Work that Reconnects
• Ecopsychology: Restoring the Earth, Healing the Mind
• Becoming Animal: An Earthly Cosmology
• Normal Family Processes, Fourth Edition: Growing Diversity and Complexity
• Original Wisdom: Stories of an Ancient Way of Knowing
• Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We're in without Going Crazy
• Book Of Vision Quest